The Army’s Criminal Investigation Command (formerly the Criminal Investigation Division), began investigating 2 Marine Raiders believed to be involved in the alleged murder of a Green Beret in Bamako, Mali; West Africa. CID is investigating whether the Raiders aided in the cover up of the murder and whether they were involved directly. Staff Sgt. Logan Melgar was choked to death on June 4, 2017 and 2 DEVGRU Navy SEALs have been accused of doing it intentionally. The incident took place in the early morning at U.S. Embassy base housing, the men claimed to have been wrestling when the death happened unintentionally.

The CID released information from the report in September last year, quotes from the Navy SEALs under investigation. Tony DeDolph claimed he and fellow SEAL Adam Cranston Matthew were wrestling with Staff Sgt. Logan Melgar around 4:00 a.m. when the men fell over together while in a scuffle. They said that when the two SEALs stood up, the noticed Staff Sgt. Melgar was not moving; when they got down to check him, he wasn’t breathing. The men said they attempted to perform CPR on Staff Sgt. Melgar but he asphyxiated.

In that same report CID released the statement of another unnamed witness who claimed that the SEALs, Matthews and DeDolph, were angry at Staff Sgt. Melgar along with others and had made threats about getting payback behind closed doors. The witness said, “DeDolph admitted … that he ‘choked [Melgar] out.’” and he had mentioned employing duct tape to carry out the attack. The military medical examiner reported that the death of Staff Sgt. Melgar had to be “homicide by asphyxiation.” Five U.S. defense officials claim that new forensic evidence revealed within a Navy based investigation that two Raider Marines were possibly present on the night of Melgar’s death. Naval CID official, Adam Stump declined to make a statement about the 2 Raiders. Stump abruptly said, “We don’t talk about open investigations,” while Marine Special Operations Command official, Major Nick Mannweiler, responded with, “It is our policy not to comment on ongoing investigations.”

Featured image: A Marine with U.S. Marine Corps Forces Special Operations Command fires at a target during AK-47 weapons familiarization training aboard Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune, N.C., March 22, 2018. The training equipped Marines with the ability to maintain and operate the AK-47 weapon system through classes and live fire drills. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Marine Sgt. Janessa K. Pon)